Obituary of Jeanette Johnson

September 17, 1920 – March 3, 2020

Jeanette Johnson.  Age 99 of Wyandotte.

Beloved wife of the late Kermit Johnson.  Loving mother of Esther (Tim) Puckett, Nora (Dean) DesJardins, Kristie (Paul) Worfel and Carolynn Bjorkman.  Dear sister of Elaine Klemm-Grau.  Also survived by 10 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.

Family Tribute ~

Jeanette Johnson was born on Sept. 17^th 1920. She was one of 11 children in the Richards family who lived in South Haven, Michigan. She had 5 brothers and 6 sisters. She did well in school and then attended Michigan State Normal College, which is now called Eastern Michigan University. She worked her way through college working at various restaurants, and obtained a degree in art and music. After graduating she was hired into the Pontiac school system for music and art. During the war years in the summer months she worked at Great Lakes Steel in the chem lab.

She attended Epworth church in River Rouge where she met Kermit Johnson. They married in April of 1946. There after they found a house in Wyandotte, Michigan and settled there, where they raised their 4 girls, Esther, Nora, Kristie and Carolynn. During summer months when Kermit had vacation time, they would take the girls over to South Haven for a week or so also visiting some of Jeanette’s relatives that lived in the area. The family also traveled around the country to many well-known places.

When Carolynn was a toddler, Jeanette became employed with Wyandotte schools, learned to drive a car and became the art teacher at Washington Elementary School bringing Carolynn along with her. She remained employed with the Wyandotte school system until 1987 when she retired from teaching. During her teaching time, she inspired and encouraged many children.

Jeanette was involved in many different organizations. She was in :   Eastern Star, treasurer for the Alpha Iota chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma (teachers sorority),treasurer for Glenwood for a term, she was a girl scout leader, the choir director for Glenwood church and also for a time, for the Baptist Church. She was on the Administration board for the school system; as the art teacher in Washington school she was the coordinator for many school carnivals that they had during the 50’s era. She enjoyed being in a bridge club with fellow teachers. She was never idle.

Jeanette was an avid gardener and bird watcher. She also Loved the Detroit Tigers – Brandon Inge was her favorite Tiger and she had a jersey with his name and number on it.  She had a beautiful singing voice and played the piano. Music was a large part of her life. In later years she purchased an autoharp and played that while she sang. She was also extremely interested in genealogy. This was before computers. And she wrote many letters to people all over the country.

She also sewed clothes for her four girls for years, she went bowling with her husband into their 80’s. The C.R.O.P walk was also a yearly project for her.

Jeanette went back to college and received her masters degree in art education from Wayne State University in 1967.

She was a loving Grandmother and very generous to all.

Jeanette and Kermit were married 59 years until Kermit’s passing.